I said to a colleague about two months ago that based on the 2010 change, 90% of advisers will miss the June 2020 deadline. They disagreed – they may well be right – I hope they are.

It seems it's not. And given the time and dialogue, I need to name names on this issue.

There are so many options for advisers under the new regime; licensing, coming under a licence, packing it in, or working for a bank or insurer. Jon-Paul Hale says the answer is quite simple.

You could be forgiven for keeping your head down, servicing clients and paying the bills. And frankly, we all need to be doing that.

There is plenty of ongoing discussion in the market around this question but should we also be asking – who owns the clients?

Sounds angry and somewhat is. It comes from constantly being told that commission-based sales people, especially life insurance advisers, are bottom-feeding scum of the earth.

Getting the ownership of life insurance policies right is critical; but one bank has no idea,  Jon-Paul Hale says.

It’s been said to me before, J-P how about looking at the glass being half full? Funny thing is the human brain is naturally a bit pessimistic, 60/40% if the studies I’ve read on the subject are right.

Jon-Paul Hale gives his take on what Southern Cross's change to trail commissions means for advisers.

There seems to be a renewed amount of noise on what an ideal client outcome looks like. And to be frank, I haven’t seen or heard a definition of one that is clear, concise, and simple.

Does the recent insurance market survey paint an accurate picture of consumer opinion?

Churn: The movement of cover form one provider to another for the sole benefit of the adviser and what they earn

From the comments around the industry in the last couple of weeks, the commission thing has been and has always been a red herring.

Given the latest chatter about commission, I thought dusting this off was appropriate now.

Commission, it's like a gun, it's neither good nor evil until it is put in the hands of a human.

We've had a reasonably rough start to the year with reporting and political tub-thumping. Between the Reserve Bank report, the Australian Royal Commission report, and the governments on both side of the Tasman, it's fair to say Financial Services has had a rough time.